Dying of Stress
by Dina
Summary: Jake has a problem


Ring Ring  
  
"Hi! It's Jake."  
"Hi! It's me Ham. You sound strange!"  
"I'm just a little tired that's all."  
"I wanted to ask you if I could come over but I think you better rest."  
"No, come on over, we haven't seen eachother in a while."  
"Yeah, it's been a while. What has it been? Over a week?" Ham wondered.  
"Something like that…" Jake said while her thoughts wondered of.  
  
"Jake, are you still there?"  
"Uh-huh, oh, yes, see you soon then, bye."  
"Ok, bye."  
  
*Its going to be nice to hold her again. Just to know that I'm soon going to see her again, wow, I love that thought.*  
  
*Has it really been so long? Had I known then what I know now, I wouldn't have taken that job. Sure it gave me a lot of experience, but the whole summer I felt like I was a robot and my body couldn't handle it. How could I tell Hamilton? Yes, I'm very tired, yesterday was my last day at work and school starts in a week. And yeah I need to get my rest, when we haven't seen eachother and barely spoken to eachother in over a week. How did I get myself into this mess?  
Why do I have so many things to do the week before school starts? Because you haven't had time to do them this summer, remember that? Now, I'm talking to myself, send me to a mental hospital!*  
  
30 minutes later the doorbell rings  
  
*Why isn't she opening the door? I try a few times again, and then I open the door with my key. Ok, she hasn't opened it; I let myself in then.*  
  
He walked into the living room and saw her sleeping in the sofa.  
  
"Hi, beautiful."  
  
Jake woke up.  
  
"Ohh, hi, you're here."  
"Yes, I told you I was going to come over."  
"Yes, I remember."  
"Aren't you happy I'm here?"  
"Of course, I am."  
"What do you want to do today?" Ham asked.  
"I don't know, do you have any ideas?"  
"Yes, I have. I thought we could go out for lunch, see a movie and then just talk. I have missed you so much, I have wanted us to do this all summer but you haven't had time."  
"An ordinary date, sounds like a good idea. I go freshen up, ill be right back!"  
  
*Ok, so this wasn't my plans for today, but who can say no? I feel so guilty neglecting him this whole summer, he has been so understanding about all this. I call Kate now and tell her that I'll meet her tomorrow instead of later this week. I'll call the thousands other places I have to call tomorrow instead and go to the post office tomorrow as well. If I get up really early I might have time do to today's and tomorrow's things in one day.*  
  
"That took, some time," Ham said looking at his clock, and saw it has been over a half an hour since she left for her room.  
"Yeah, I remembered I had to do something, I'm sorry."  
"I don't mind, you re here now, lets go."  
"Ok."  
  
They had a great time. Jake was really enjoying everything, but still back in her head the thoughts about how much she had to do haunted her. She couldn't fully enjoy anything, and Hamilton noticed that. The were just a few minutes away from her home.  
  
"Jake, I can see that something is bothering you, was is it? "  
  
*What am I going to say? Ham, I think it was a bad idea for us to go out today, I have thousand other things to do before school. Next time please tell me about your plans…*  
  
"I have just been tired, that's all. If you don't mind I think I just want to go to sleep right now."  
"Of course I don't mind, I know you have been tired, you have had so much to do, but now it's over, so you can get your rest and spend some more time with me."  
"I'm so sorry that we haven't had time to see eachother this summer," Jake said sadly.  
"Cheer up, we have now all the time in the world before school starts."  
"Yes," Jake said in a low voice knowing that time wasn't on her side.  
  
~Next day~  
  
"Jake, you are never late. What is it, you seem, well you don't look like the Jake I know," Kate said.  
"I have been tired, and I had some things to do today, sorry for being late," Jake said remembering when she came home yesterday and saw that stupid letter lying there and that made her sit on the phone for over an hour this morning.  
  
"Let's just go, Kate"  
  
Just before they were about to say their goodbyes Kate asked Jake if she could meet her tomorrow too. Jake who felt guilty for neglecting her friend too this summer said yes.  
  
*Ok, it's only for an hour, but it's an hour too much to ruin my plans for tomorrow. Come on, in 2 days you are going to lie in you bed the whole day and do nothing. The first day of rest, come on be happy for that now.*  
  
But nothing could make Jake feel happy about this week, she knew that something else was going to make her change her plans for this week. She couldn't sleep, only worry about this week.  
  
~In the morning~  
*Today, you are going to be very proud of yourself if you do everything you must do.*  
  
At the end of the day, Jake had completed everything and was going to bed but she didn't feel well.  
  
*Something is wrong, people say I have lost weight, I haven't noticed it. Why does my heart hurt. I must lay down, I can't stand up…*  
  
She fell to sleep on her bed  
  
~ Next day ~   
  
"Finally my day of rest has come. Nothing can make me go up from my bed.*  
  
~ An hour later, the doorbell rings ~  
  
"The doorbell was the thing that made me go up, I knew something would change my plans." She said walking to the door.  
  
"Hi, Ham. What a surprise. What are you doing here? I thought I told you that this was my day of rest."  
"You did, but I thought we could rest together."  
"Now, you are here, so, yeah, we can rest together."  
  
*Next time I'm going to explain to everyone what my day of rest means. If they knew how much I have done this week, but it's my fault, I haven't been there for them this summer, so I must know.*  
  
~ A few hours later~   
  
"Jake, Laura is on the phone."  
"I'll take it in here."  
  
"Hi Laura. How are you doing?"  
"I'm fine, I wanted to ask you if you could come a little earlier tomorrow. So we can talk, and catch up."  
"Yeah, sure why not."  
  
*Hamilton today, Laura tomorrow, and then some rest this weekend. I'm going to have strength for school next week. I'm sure of it."  
  
The week flew by, Jake practically didn't notice it was Monday, and that school started today.  
  
"What time is it? OMG I'm gonna be late!" Jake said while she rushed to the bathroom.  
"Jacqueline, don't you remember that you usually set the clock 20 minutes ahead, just in case you wake up late," Consuela said.  
"Consuela, you are my lifesaver."  
  
"I have made some breakfast for you. Calm down, eat your breakfast and then go to the university."   
"Ok."   
  
The days flew by and during this first week, she had got tons of homework, and her friends had called her and they talked for a very long time each time. She was glad that she could meet Ham at school everyday, which made her feel less guilty about this summer.  
  
*So, now I have studied whole Friday, and tomorrow I'm gonna do the same. I hate doing homework. Why do I feel like I want to bomb the school so I can have a bit more time finishing this and have time for other things? Consuela is free this weekend, so I have the whole apartment to myself and the only thing I'm going to do this weekend is study. Now I'm going to bed. I need some sleep.*  
  
Suddenly she felt great pain in her legs, and she knew exactly what it was.  
  
*And that has to come now. Don't I have enough to think about? My monthly thing has come, just great.*  
  
While in bed, she felt that something felt wrong with her heart again, but she ignored it.  
She went to sleep.  
  
Jake studied all Saturday, and she felt that her head was going to explode. She went to bed early, and this night she also felt pain in her chest, but just thought it had to do with her monthly thing.  
  
~ Sunday~  
  
*I wonder why Jacqueline isn't opening the door. I know she has been tired, she is probably sleeping.*  
  
Consuela opened the door, and found Jake lying on the kitchen floor. She called 911 and Jake was rushed to the hospital. Hamilton came to the hospital as soon as he got the phonecall from Consuela. The doctor explained that she had an irregular heartbeat and that Jake a few times before had felt pain in her chest. But if Jake only got some rest she will be fine.  
  
Ham went to talk to her.  
  
"Jake, why didn't you tell me anything. I was so worried."  
"I felt guilty about that I have neglected you and my friends, and doing all of this homework, well I was really stressed."  
"Jake, you were practically dying of stress and you didn't tell someone?"  
"How could I tell you that I have too much to do, so I can't be with you right now? The week before school I had so much to do and I changed my plans a thousands times that week because you wanted to be with me, and Kate and Laura wanted to meet me."  
  
"If you hadn't time to be with me, I would have understood, it's not how long I'm with you, it's how many times I am with you. I hadn't seen you in over a week, I just needed to hold you. If I knew that this was going to be the price, I would only been with you for 10 minutes those days."  
"But I wanted to be with you, it's not your fault, it's mine. I just want to go home, the doctor said I could go home if I promised to stay in bed for a veeeeery long time."  
  
"I'll take you home and make sure you're in bed the whole day and that you do nothing. I think it's a good idea that I stay a couple of days at yours if you don't mind."  
"I don't mind, I love that idea." 


End file.
